LEADER DEVOTIONAL Leaders: this is just for you! Read ahead of time to engage with the Bible story on an adult level and prepare your heart to teach on Sunday. Paul had written a letter (1 Corinthians) addressing several sins that were being tolerated in the church at Corinth. The letter had been a risk. The Corinthians may have rejected Paul, but they did not. Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to celebrate what God had done in the church and to call on them for help. The church in Jerusalem was in desperate need of help, so Paul was collecting money from the other churches on their behalf. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to be generous. He told them about the churches in Macedonia. Macedonia was an area north of Corinth. The Christians there were suffering, and they did not have a lot of wealth. Nevertheless, they had joy and gave as much as they could to help others. Paul encouraged the believers at Corinth to give too. Giving is one way we can show we love God. God is generous to us, so we can be generous to others. Jesus was rich; He had glory and honor in heaven. But He gave that up and became poor by coming to earth to help sinners. Jesus did this so that we, who had nothing, could become rich. Now we have salvation and eternal life in Jesus. As a result, Paul wanted the Corinthians to give generously and joyfully, out of gratitude for what God has done. Your kids may feel like the churches in Macedonia who had little to give, but encourage them the same way Paul encouraged the church in Corinth. It is not the amount that we give that glorifies God it is our level of generosity and joy when we give. Caution kids not to give out of duty but out of gratitude. God loves a cheerful giver. Help kids find ways they can give whether time or money or talents to advance the work of the gospel in your city, your nation, and the world. 0
WELCOME Greet each kid as he or she arrives. Use this time to collect the offering, fill out attendance sheets, and help new kids connect to your group. Prompt kids to talk about things they do cheerfully: willingly, happily, and without complaint. Say How do you feel about giving money? Would you give money cheerfully or not cheerfully? Why? Stair Maze activity page, 1 per kid pencils or markers ACTIVITY PAGE Invite kids to complete the Stair Maze on the activity page. Kids should find the path to the top of the maze. Say The correct path follows the words for the main point of today s Bible story: God is generous to us, so we can be generous to others. Today s Bible story is going to help us think about how God is generous to us and how we can be generous to others. Key Passage Poster Cups, 20 KEY PASSAGE ACTIVITY Before the session, write words and phrases of the key passage on 10 separate cups. Make two sets. Display the key passage poster. Lead the kids to read it together. Form two groups and give each group a set of prepared cups. Guide them to stack the cups in a pyramid shape (four on the bottom, three on the next level, and so on) with the words of the key passage in order. Then instruct them to disassemble their stacks and mix up the cups. Challenge the groups to race to stack the cups in order the fastest. Ask the first team that finishes to say the key passage aloud. Then ask the other team to say it. Say Great work, everyone. Anyone who is in Christ is no longer the person he or she was before. The old passes away, and the new comes! We continue to change throughout our lifetimes. Let s answer our big picture question: Who changes us? The Holy Spirit changes us to be like Jesus for God s glory. 1
SESSION STARTER Option 1: The rightful owner Instruct boys and girls to each take off one shoe and pile them at one side of the room. Form two teams and guide them to line up about 10 feet away from the shoe pile. When you say go, the first person in each line should race to the pile and find the shoe of the second player in line. She should return the shoe to the second player, who will put it on. Then the second player will race to find the shoe of the third player. Continue until all the shoes are back on the feet of their rightful owners. Say You raced to find the shoe that belongs to the person behind you in line. Think about all of the things that you own. Did you know that all of these shoes actually belong to one Person? They belong to God! We ll find out more in today s Bible story. Option 2: Feelings charades slips of paper pencil gift bag Write the following words on separate slips of paper: cheerful, afraid, angry, sad, surprised, sleepy, itchy, amazed, embarrassed, proud. Fold each paper in half to conceal the word and put the slips in a gift bag. Call on a volunteer to pull a slip of paper from the bag, look at it, and then silently act out the word. Invite kids to guess the feeling. Then choose another volunteer and play another round. Continue acting out and guessing feelings as time allows. Say Today we are going to talk about feeling cheerful. The Bible tells us we should give cheerfully. Let s find out why. Transition to large group 2
BIBLE STORY A Cheerful Giver 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; 9:6-15 Paul, a missionary and teacher in the early church, was collecting money for the believers in Jerusalem. They needed help! Paul wrote a letter to his dear friends in the church at Corinth to ask for help. He told them about the ways he had seen God s grace in the churches in Macedonia. Macedonia was an area north of Corinth. The Christians there were suffering. They did not have much money, but they still gave joyfully. Paul said that even though the believers were poor, they gave as much as they could to help others. Paul encouraged the believers at Corinth to give in the same way. Giving is one way we can show we love God. Paul gave an even better example: Jesus, who was rich with glory and honor in heaven, gave that up and became poor by coming to earth to help us. Jesus did this so that we, who had nothing, could become rich. Now we have salvation and eternal life in Jesus. Paul pointed out that the Corinthian believers were not financially poor like the Macedonians. They had more than enough and could give to those who did not have enough. Then everyone would have what they needed. Paul reminded the believers that when God sent manna to the Israelites in the wilderness, everyone gathered what they needed. Some gathered much, but they did not have too much. Some gathered just a little, but they had enough. Paul said that how much a person gives is not as important as his attitude about giving. God loves a cheerful giver, he said. He encouraged the Corinthians to give what they decided is right. Paul reminded them that God gives us everything we need. Everything we have is a gift from God. God might give us wealth so we can share it. When we give to the church, the church uses what we give to help people in need. Then those people will thank God for the gifts they receive. Paul taught that meeting needs generously and cheerfully shows that you believe the good news about Jesus. He said, Let s thank God for the most wonderful gift of all His Son, Jesus! Christ Connection: God has been merciful and generous to us. He gave us the greatest gift His own Son. Jesus showed us what generosity looks like when He gave up His life to save us from sin. Because of Jesus, we can be merciful and generous to others. Bible Storytelling Tips Use facial expressions: Emphasize feelings of joy and cheerfulness by telling the story as you smile and hold up your head. Make sound effects: Give one or two kids a can of coins to gently shake when they hear the words give or gave. 3
BIBLE STORY REVIEW AND BIBLE SKILLS Bibles, 1 per kid Main Point Poster Say Raise your hand if you had heard this Bible story before today. Whether you ve heard a Bible story one time or a hundred times, there is always something new that we can learn. God s Word is living and active, so there is always more that God can reveal about Himself through what we read in Scripture! Let s review some of the details from today s story. Guide kids to open their Bibles to 2 Corinthians 8 9. Lead kids in saying the names of the New Testament books that come before 2 Corinthians: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, and 1 Corinthians. Explain that Paul wrote this letter to the believers in the city of Corinth about 23 years after Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension. Say In his letter, Paul told the Corinthians how God was at work in the churches of Macedonia. God had changed the hearts of the believers. He knew this was true because even though they were poor, they were generous. Why can God s people be generous, even when they have little? We learned today that God is generous to us, so we can be generous to others. Instruct kids to put their finger on 2 Corinthians 9:6. Choose three volunteers to each read a verse from 2 Corinthians 9:6-8. Then ask the following questions: God doesn t need our money. Why do you think He wants us to give? What attitude should we have about giving? Why? To whom do all things ultimately belong? Review the gospel with boys and girls. Explain that kids are welcome to speak with you or another teacher if they have questions. (Feel free to use the GOSPEL visual aid from your class bulletin board.) 4
ENGAGE Option 1: Story actions ball or other object Instruct kids to stand in a circle. Give one kid a ball or other object. Explain that you will read a short version of today s Bible story. Kids should listen carefully. Anytime they hear the word left, the ball should be passed to the left. If they hear the word right/write, the ball should be passed to the right. If they hear the words give or gave, the player with the ball should toss it to someone not beside her. Read the script slowly so kids can react to the underlined words: Paul left his home to travel all over. When the believers in Jerusalem needed help, Paul decided to write a letter to his friends in Corinth to ask for help. He told them how the Christians did not have much money left, but they still gave joyfully. Paul encouraged the believers at Corinth to give in the same way. One way we can show we love God is to give. Jesus left heaven and came to earth so that we could have salvation and eternal life. Paul said that how much a person chooses to give is not as important as his attitude. God loves a cheerful giver, he said. Believers should give what they decide is right. We can trust God to give us everything we need. Everything we have is a gift that comes right from God. Say Great job, everyone. We know that God is generous to us, so we can be generous to others. He gave us the greatest gift His own Son. Jesus showed us what generosity looks like when He gave up His life to save us from sin. Because of Jesus, we can be merciful and generous to others. Option 2: Group giveaway spring-hinged wooden clothespins, 3 per kid numbered cube Instruct kids to stand in a circle. Guide them to clip each of their clothespins to their sleeves where they are easily visible. Choose one kid to begin by tossing a numbered cube. If the number it lands on is odd, play passes to the next kid. If the number is even, he should say today s main point: God is generous to us, so we can be generous to others. Then he should take one of his clothespins and pin it to another player s sleeve. The next kid in the circle will roll the numbered cube and respond accordingly. Continue around the circle as time allows. Explain that the goal of the game is to give away all of their clothespins. Kids may strategize to pin their clothespins to players who have only one remaining. If a player gives away all of her clothespins, she is the winner. Option: Review the gospel with boys and girls. Explain that kids are welcome to speak with you or another teacher if they have questions. Say That was fun. Giving away clothespins might be easy because they aren t of much value to you, but think about things that do mean a lot to you like your time or your money. If your heart wants to hold on to these things, remember that God has been merciful and generous to us. He gave us the greatest gift: His own Son. Jesus showed us what generosity looks like when He gave up His life to save us from sin. Because of Jesus, we can be merciful and generous to others. 5
Pencils Journals ENGAGE AND PRAYER TIME Distribute journal pages and pencils. Guide kids to think about and answer the questions listed on the page: What does this story teach me about God or the gospel? What does the story teach me about myself? Are there any commands in this story to obey? How are they for God s glory and my good? Are there any promises in this story to remember? How do they help me trust and love God? How does this story help me to live on mission better? While kids journal, invite them to share their ideas. Then lead kids in prayer. Thank God for bringing salvation into the world through His Son, Jesus. CLOSING AND PICK UP After prayer time is done, continue any unfinished activities until parents arrive. Send each kid home with this week's Big Picture Card so kids and their parents can interact with the biblical content at home. 6